Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Advertising

lord wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate, if any, they have made of the number ofyoung people exposed to gambling adverts over the last five years; and whether they will publish any such estimate.

lord ashton of hyde: The Gambling Commission carries out an annual survey of 11-16 year olds, which includes questions on advertising. In 2017 80% of young people reported having ever seen gambling advertisements on TV, 70% on social media, 66% on other websites, 62% posters and 50% in newspapers. This data looks at awareness of gambling advertising, which may be different to exposure, since not all people will recall what they heard or saw. The survey data is not available over a five year period.Advertising is generally measured in terms of numbers of impacts, ie one advert seen by one person. The total number of TV gambling adverts seen by children rose between 2005 and 2012 and has been falling since then. In 2016 children aged 4-15 saw 25% fewer gambling adverts than they did in 2012, and children aged 10-15 saw 28% fewer. On average, a child currently sees around three gambling adverts on TV in a week.There are strict controls on the content of gambling advertising, which must not be targeted at children or appeal particularly to them. The Government Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures set out a package of initiatives to strengthen existing protections around gambling advertising. This includes new guidance on protecting children and young people from the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), due later this year, and significant new research commissioned by GambleAware into the effects of marketing and advertising on children, young people and other vulnerable people. This will look at the targeting of online and social media advertising and the impact of advertising on certain groups.

Gambling

lord chadlington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of children who are living with parents who have problems with gambling.

lord ashton of hyde: The Government does not hold data on the number of children living with parents who have problems with gambling. The Gambling Commission recently published Gambling behaviour in Great Britain 2016, which reports participation, at-risk gambling and problem gambling rates. The data, drawn from combined Health surveys, shows that the rate of problem gambling in Great Britain was 0.7%, a figure which has remained relatively stable over many years.The Government's response to the Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility set out a number of initiatives to improve understanding of gambling-related harm, how to prevent and reduce it, the need for treatment and the most effective means of delivering it. This was part of a wider package of measures designed to protect those vulnerable to harm, including reducing the maximum stake from £100 to £2 on B2 gaming machines and strengthening protections around gambling advertising and online gambling.